Newsletter #217

May 22, 2003

Greetings Accumulators!

This is the first newsletter being sent via Yahoo Groups. I hope this will
mean a great reduction in spam for all of us. If you're like me you
probably appreciate all those generous offers to enlarge your penis, but
you think it must be some really pervasive, no, nearly universal, problem
in our society, judging by the sheer volume of email on the topic, and
maybe we should all just keep what we have.

The weather in New York City may be described as unrelievedly gray. I live
on the top floor of a high rise apartment building. This affords me plenty
of opportunity to discuss the weather at length with my neighbors on the
way up or down in the elevator. The general consensus is that the sun has
moved away from the earth and that we will never, ever see it again. We are
in perpetual twilight here, and there is a constant drizzle, as if the sky
has a sinus problem. I empathize with all those Accumulators residing in
London.

FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF JUST LEARNING TO ACCEPT THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE SMARTER
THAN YOU ARE
There seems to be an interesting trend afoot. Almost everyone in the
collecting world has heard of a seller naming his price, selling his item,
and then, should his buyer re-sell at an enormous profit, showing up with
his hand out for a piece of the action. Such is the story of the rare
Islamic pen case recently auctioned at Sotheby's in London. Antiques dealer
Stephen Birbeck bought the 13th century jewel-encrusted Persian case in
parts unknown, paying the equivalent of about $3,300 for it. He then sold
it to a company for $49,000. Tidy profit, don't you think? Well, the
company then put the case up for sale at Sotheby's where agents for The
Sultan of Brunei and The Amir of Qatar battled to buy it. The hammer price
was more than $1,839,000. The London Mirror reports that Birbeck "is hoping
to get some compensation from the company which bought the case from him."
Compensation for what? Did Birbeck do something to earn further
compensation? Is this not a free market? Were the executives of the company
not smarter than Birbeck and therefore deserving of their enormous profit?
No comment from the company in question, so far.

RAMPANT T & A DEPARTMENT
Germany has gone gaga over a new ad campaign featuring supermodel (what is
that, anyway?) Heidi Klum in a bathing suit. What there is of the bathing
suit, of course. Fashion chain H&M's new swimwear poster campaign starring
the German supermodel has really taken off. But the posters are being
stolen as fast as the ad agency can put them up, with persons unknown
smashing the glass cases containing the posters to get at them. And not
everyone is smashing those cases because they're collecting posters of
Heidi. Feminists, angry because they feel the posters exploit women, are
vandalising them. Some of the posters have already begun showing up on
eBay. The ad agency, JC Decaux, has offered to give fans free posters if
they'll only stop stealing the ones on display. That'll depress the price
on eBay!

BUY ONE NOW, BEFORE THE SUPPLY RUNS OUT
I suppose it was bound to happen. We've seen a talking action figure of
Dubya, complete with malapropisms. We've seen a talking Iraqi Minister of
Information doll, who has a repertoire that includes, "There are no
American soldiers in Baghdad." Now at last, the most exciting figure of
all: a bobble head figure of Chief Justice of The Supreme Court William H.
Rehnquist. Women all over the collecting world will be swooning, collectors
will be beating down the doors of stores to get one. The ceramic figurine
supposedly really looks like Rehnquist, and features little known details
about his work on the bench. Rehnquist is depicted standing atop a color
map that was a central feature of a 1979 case he wrote involving
19th-century railroad easements. He is holding an accurate rendition of the
bound volumes of Supreme Court opinions. Wowee, kids, that's pretty
exciting stuff! Doncha just have to have one? Well, forget it. For now
there are just two prototype dolls, one belonging to the creator and one he
gave Rehnquist. A limited run of 1,000 dolls is in the works. The doll was
created by the editors at a small legal journal who intend it as an
admittedly odd homage to the 78-year-old Rehnquist, who may possibly retire
from the bench next year. Fortunately, the Chief Justice has a sense of humor.

Accumulators, this is a holiday weekend in the USA. He Who Is The Light Of
My Life and I are hoping to have some folks up at the country house this
weekend, if the rain will please just stop for one day. To all American
Accumulators, I wish you a wonderful holiday, with maybe even a little
sunshine. If you're celebrating, please have your last alcoholic drink at
least an hour before you leave the party, or designate a driver. And when
you're on the road, watch out for the other guy. Maybe nobody loved him
enough to take away his keys. Hope you get to visit some yard and garage
sales, too, and some flea markets and antiques shows, and don't forget to
stop by your local antiques shop or mall. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
Best,
Judith